title: Ten year neurocognitive trajectories in first-episode psychosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Neurocognitive impairment is commonly reported at onset of psychotic disorders. However, the long-term neurocognitive course remains largely uninvestigated in first episode psychosis (FEP) and the relationship to clinically significant subgroups even more so. We report 10 year longitudinal neurocognitive development in a sample of FEP patients, and explore whether the trajectories of cognitive course are related to presence of relapse to psychosis, especially within the first year, with a focus on the course of verbal memory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three FEP subjects (51% male, 28 ± 9 years) were followed-up neurocognitively over five assessments spanning 10 years. The test battery was divided into four neurocognitive indices; Executive Function, Verbal Learning, Motor Speed, and Verbal Fluency. The sample was grouped into those relapsing or not within the first, second and fifth year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The four neurocognitive indices showed overall stability over the 10 year period. Significant relapse by index interactions were found for all indices except Executive Function. Follow-up analyses identified a larger significant decrease over time for the encoding measure within Verbal Memory for patients with psychotic relapse in the first year [F (4, 38) = 5.8, p = 0.001, η(2) = 0.40].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Main findings are long-term stability in neurocognitive functioning in FEP patients, with the exception of verbal memory in patients with psychotic relapse or non-remission early in the course of illness. We conclude that worsening of specific parts of cognitive function may be expected for patients with on-going psychosis, but that the majority of patients do not show significant change in cognitive performance during the first 10 years after being diagnosed.
authors.affiliation: Psychosis Research Unit/TOP, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, KG Jebsen Center for Psychosis Resarch, Oslo University Hospital Oslo, Norway ; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Helene E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Barder
authors.forename: Kjetil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sundet
authors.forename: Bjørn R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Rund
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evensen
authors.forename: Ulrik
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Haahr
authors.forename: Wenche
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ten Velden Hegelstad
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Joa
authors.forename: Jan O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Johannessen
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langeveld
authors.forename: Tor K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Melle
authors.forename: Stein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Opjordsmoen
authors.forename: Jan I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Røssberg
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simonsen
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vaglum
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McGlashan
authors.forename: Svein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Friis
keywords: first-episode psychosis; longitudinal; neurocognition; relapse; verbal memory